How is the Market for Prefabricated Buildings in India Evolving?

Prefabricated building systems in India are slowly getting a move on with many builders and construction companies now adopting the methodology in India. As far as the world is concerned, this system has already been accepted and has gained a lot of momentum. Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Sydney Opera House are the two finest examples of this technique being employed. Prefabricated construction began in Europe after the World War 2 and has been commonly used in several parts of the world for decades. As far as India is concerned, it’s slowly but steadily catching up.

Currently, prefabricated or pre-engineered steel buildings comprise of merely 1% of India’s $100 billion real estate market. However, given the extended slump in the residential real estate, with inventories at all-time high, developers believe that its popularity will rise. The reason behind this is the faster completion of projects due to prefabrication which further lowers overall costs. According to industry experts, if it takes a year to complete a housing project using conventional methods, it takes 5 to 6 months using precast construction, with the scale being the same. Further, for an industry which, following the slump is greatly leveraged, with mounting debts and restricted cash flows, completing projects early saves interest cost and is of vital importance.

According to the industry insiders, a lot of effort and money have been invested on a prefabrication facility and on the anvil. With this they can have a production capacity of 1.5 crore sq.ft of building material annually with which they can construct an 18 floor tower in less than 10 months, which typically takes around two years. Further, this technology can be used for all types of construction, i.e. low rises, high rises, mass townships, villas, etc. It’s specifically useful for mass housing as it lessens both time as well as dependence on labour. Another benefit of this technology is its durability. Prefabricated construction imparts strong structural strength, allowing such structures to withstand earthquakes, which matters a lot in the seismic-sensitive Indian landscape.

As India has gradually started adopting the methodology, several prefab exporters in India have started their business primarily into this industry. Some of the foreign companies have even announced plans to make India their manufacturing hub for Asian markets, exporting steel structures used for fabrication to several South East Asian countries. Back in India, the government aims to provide housing for all by 2022, which requires constructing 30 million low cost houses along with building 98 smart cities. Both these proposals are expected to provide a boost to prefabricated system. Many portable cabin manufacturers have already grabbed some or other type of contract and are eager to build world class housing. Moreover, the government’s decision in late 2014 to relax previous conditions relating to 100% FDI in real estate has enabled quicker adoption of modern prefab technologies.

About Mr. Sunil Srivastava

Sunil Srivastava is a Business Partner at New Life Steel Structures, a leading organization having expertise into the manufacturing of pre-engineered steel buildings. The company has been into the industry since 2 decades constructing multiple steel structures with varied budget in different geographies and operating with a strong sense of work ethics, pride and integrity

We started the company in 1992 with a vision to provide unique structures of steel which are very different from conventional building as easily portable and build faster. At the same time providing financial growth to clients, employees and New Life Steel, Sunil and Samta Shrivastava worked with clear idea of gathering/team up core skilled professional that could deliver high quality construction of steel buildings, cabins and accessories at varied budget range.